I started by watching videos, and I chose 10,000 combat power.

When Luo Fei put away the last artifact, the sun was already setting in the west.

He stood in the exhibition hall of a private museum on Beihai Island, facing empty display cases, then turned and walked out.

Xiao Wan's voice rang in his ear, carrying the relief of a mission successfully completed: "Captain, all the Chinese artifacts in museums and private collections within Japan have been recovered according to the planned route, totaling 1,973,842 pieces. The remaining approximately one million pieces have been damaged due to improper preservation or have been sold to other countries by private individuals and cannot be recovered at this time."

Luo Fei responded with an "Mm".

Nearly two million pieces.

I was busy from morning to afternoon, but it only took a few hours.

This was thanks to Xiao Wan's optimal route planning, and even more so to his speed. Otherwise, just driving from one city to another would take most of the day.

He also marked every city he visited.

If you wish to come again in the future, you can arrive at any time.

He changed back into his military uniform in the restroom, and with a thought, he was standing on the pier of Dongdu Island the next second.

The setting sun dyed the entire island orange-red, and the distant mountains, the nearby sea, and the people on the dock were all bathed in a warm glow.

Chu Yue stood on the dock, facing the sea, her helmet tucked under her arm, her hair slightly disheveled by the sea breeze.

Hearing the noise behind her, she turned around, saw Luo Fei, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

The other armored soldiers stood behind her in a row, all with their helmets off, each staring at Luo Fei with a gleam in their eyes.

Luo Fei walked up to them, his gaze sweeping over each of their faces. Everyone stood at attention at the same time, their heels striking the cement ground in unison.

Luo Fei nodded, then walked to the dock and faced the sea.

"Xiao Wan, trigger the eruption of Mount Fuji. Control the power well, don't let it affect China."

Xiao Wan's slightly excited voice immediately rang out: "Received. The Wan Nian Falcon is in position, and the device has locked onto the center of Mount Fuji. Energy pulse launch—launch complete. The volcano is expected to erupt in five minutes. Eruption scale: medium, mainly affecting Japan, with volcanic ash spreading northeastward, having no impact on China."

Luo Fei grunted in acknowledgment, turned around, and walked back to Chu Yue.

He began by asking, "How is the situation on Dongdu Island?"

Chu Yue replied, "All military targets have been destroyed, with no civilian casualties. All departments have taken full control, and order is stable. The vast majority of the public welcomes this."

Luo Fei nodded. He turned to look at the street outside the dock, where people had begun to hang national flags. Red flags hung from the windows of buildings, fluttering gently in the evening breeze.

He withdrew his gaze and said to the fifteen people in front of him, "Assemble. Put your right hand on the shoulder of the person next to you."

Fifteen people stood at attention simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized and without any hesitation.

Luo Fei stood in front of them, put his hand on Chu Yue's shoulder, and with a thought, activated teleportation.

The next second, they appeared on the special operations brigade's training ground.

The training ground was filled with people. Hundreds of officers and soldiers from the entire brigade, dressed in training uniforms, stood in neat square formations, completely silent and motionless, like a forest rustling in the evening breeze, quiet and upright.

Even the most active military dogs on the training field were now quietly squatting at their handlers' feet, tongues lolling out, without barking once.

A huge projection screen stood in the stands, playing a live replay, frozen on the last frame—the moment Luo Fei said "Live broadcast over."

The curtain swayed gently in the evening breeze, and the images swayed along with it.

Yang Zhenguo stood at the front of the line, with Zhang Qiming standing beside him.

The two men had serious expressions.

But the hundreds of officers and soldiers behind them didn't look so serious—some were smiling, some had red eyes, some were biting their lips to hold back tears, and some were looking up at the fifteen figures that had suddenly appeared on the training field, their eyes filled with light.

The moment Luo Fei and fifteen armored soldiers appeared, Yang Zhenguo made a move.

He stood at attention, saluted, and his movements were precise and swift.

The sound of sleeves rubbing together as the arms were raised was particularly clear on the silent parade ground. Zhang Qiming saluted as well, and then hundreds of men from the entire brigade saluted in unison.

Luo Fei paused for a moment, then returned the salute. The fifteen armored soldiers behind him also saluted at the same time.

After the ceremony, Yang Zhenguo stepped forward, stood in front of Luo Fei, and looked him up and down.

His gaze lingered on the three stars on Luo Fei's epaulettes for a moment before he spoke, "The cookhouse is all ready. The whole brigade will have a celebratory dinner tonight. You can stay too."

Luo Fei looked at Yang Zhenguo, then glanced at the hundreds of expectant eyes behind him.

He paused for a second, then shook his head: "Brigadier, I have to go home. My parents are still waiting for me. They've watched the live stream since this morning, watched the mushroom bombs explode, but haven't seen me. They're probably worried, so I have to go back and have dinner with them."

Yang Zhenguo paused for a moment, then smiled.

He nodded, patted Luo Fei's shoulder hard, making a loud thud: "Okay, you can go back now. I'll take care of things here."

Luo Fei turned around, his gaze sweeping over the fifteen armored soldiers, and said, "These armors will remain with the Special Operations Brigade and will be used in future missions. These armors are now bound to you; no one else can wear them. Therefore, not all missions will require my personal involvement; you can complete them independently."

Chu Yue nodded. Her hair was blown even more tangled by the wind, but she didn't bother to fix it. She just stood there in the sunset, looking at Luo Fei, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only uttered two words: "Thank you."

Luo Fei nodded.

He turned around, and with a thought, he was standing in his own courtyard in Liuxi Village the next second.

The setting sun cast its orange-red light on the roses in the yard, giving the edges of the petals a warm glow.

Smoke was billowing from the kitchen chimney, the living room lights were on, and through the curtains, several figures could be seen sitting on the sofa.

Luo Fei stood in the center of the courtyard, straightened the collar of his military uniform, and then stepped forward and pushed open the living room door.

Everyone in the living room turned their heads at the same time.

Li Xiulan and Luo Weidong sat on the sofa, surrounded by a group of people—Luo Yumei sat next to Li Xiulan, and Zhao Lin leaned against Luo Yumei, her eyes red.

Sitting next to me were Aunt Wang and two neighboring aunties.

Uncle Youfu sat on a small stool by the door, a cigarette between his fingers, a long ash piled up but not falling off.

Everyone stared at the young man in the dark green military uniform standing in the doorway, the last rays of the setting sun casting a golden halo on his back.

Li Xiulan opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She stood up from the sofa, her legs feeling a little weak, and she had to hold onto the sofa armrests to steady herself.

Her eyes were red; they had been red since the start of her live stream that morning.

She looked at her son, from top to bottom and then from bottom to top, making sure he was not hurt, that he was unharmed, and that he was truly standing in front of her.

Luo Weidong placed the teacup on the coffee table.

He stood up, more steadily than Li Xiulan, but his fingers hanging by his trouser seam were trembling slightly, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

Uncle Youfu stubbed out his cigarette, ground the butt on the sole of his shoe, stood up, looked at Luo Fei, then at the star on his shoulder, opened his mouth as if to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and in the end he could only utter one word: "Okay."

Luo Fei stood at the door, looking at the familiar faces in the living room, at his mother's reddened eyes, at his father's trembling fingers, and at the thousand words contained in Uncle Youfu's single word.

He spoke up: "Mom, Dad, I'm home."

"It's good that you're back."

Luo Weidong waved to Luo Fei: "Let's eat. Everyone's waiting for you."

Luo Yumei stood up from the sofa, looked at Luo Fei, opened her mouth several times, and finally said, "Xiao Fei, you scared us to death. When that mushroom bomb exploded, your mother almost fainted."

Zhao Lin peeked out from behind her mother, looked at Luo Fei, and smiled, "Brother, you're amazing."

Luo Fei smiled and patted Zhao Lin's head.

Aunt Wang's voice came from behind, brimming with barely suppressed enthusiasm: "Xiao Fei, you have no idea, today your mom and dad were watching the live stream at home, and when that mushroom bomb exploded, your mom..."

Li Xiulan glared at her, and Aunt Wang stopped talking abruptly, but her mouth was still open, with an expression that said, "I haven't finished speaking yet."

Luo Fei stood in the middle of the living room, surrounded by people, listening to these scattered and disjointed greetings, feeling a warm glow in his heart.

He glanced at the dining table, which was laden with steaming dishes.

There were many dishes: fish, meat, chicken, and green vegetables, filling the entire table.

He took off his hat, walked to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down: "Mom, I'm hungry, let's eat first."

Li Xiulan paused for a moment, then smiled.

She turned and went into the kitchen, her voice coming from inside: "Coming, coming, the soup is still hot, I'll serve you some."

Luo Weidong stood up and walked to the dining table, sat down opposite Luo Fei, picked up his chopsticks, but did not pick up any food. He just held the chopsticks and looked at his son.

Luo Yumei pulled Zhao Lin down to sit as well.

Aunt Wang sat down uninvited, and started talking as soon as she sat down. Uncle Youfu stuffed his cigarette back into his pocket and sat down as well.

The lights in the living room were on, casting a warm yellow glow on everyone's faces.

-

At this time, Japan was in dire straits. Before its leaders could calm the panic caused by Luo Fei, Mount Fuji erupted.

First, a plume of thick smoke billowed from the bowl-shaped depression at the top of the mountain.

It was a thick, grayish-black smoke with a sulfurous smell, which violently spewed from the crater, like a giant chimney shooting straight into the sky.

The column of smoke grew taller and thicker, rising from several thousand meters to over ten thousand meters in the sky, expanding continuously to form a huge gray-black mushroom cloud.

The top of the mushroom cloud encountered strong westerly winds in the stratosphere and began to spread northeastward, like a giant gray umbrella that blocked out the sun.

Following the thick smoke was lava. Fiery red lava gushed from the crater, forced to the surface by immense pressure deep underground, resembling fiery fountains thousands of meters high, drawing dazzling arcs in the sky before cascading down the mountainside.

Wherever the lava went, everything caught fire.

Trees, houses, roads, and cables, whether flammable or not, were all consumed by the high temperatures of thousands of degrees.

Thick white smoke rose from all parts of the mountain, mingling with the black smoke from the crater, swirling in the sky as if the end of the world had arrived.

Volcanic ash began to fall, raining down from the sky in dense showers.

The gray-black volcanic ash covered everything—roofs of houses, streets, car roofs, tree branches, and all exposed surfaces were covered with a thick layer of gray powder.

The air was filled with a pungent sulfurous smell, so strong that it was almost impossible to breathe.

Earthquakes followed, and they became increasingly frequent. Wave after wave of tremors continued, the ground shook, houses creaked, cracks in the walls spread, and windowpanes rattled with the vibrations.

People started running in the streets. Some were carrying children, some were helping the elderly, some were pulling suitcases, and some had nothing at all, just running as fast as they could.

Cars lined up in a long queue on the street, horns blaring incessantly. Some people leaned out of their car windows, anxiously peering at the road ahead, while others simply abandoned their cars and walked, weaving through the traffic.

Over the loudspeaker, sirens blared, and the announcer's voice trembled as he repeated the word "evacuation" over and over again.

But no one listened. Because everyone was running away from Mount Fuji.

Further afield, volcanic ash has begun to affect aviation. On radar screens, a large red area is spreading, marking the location of the volcanic ash cloud.

On the airport runway, planes were stuck and unable to take off because volcanic ash would clog the engine air intakes, causing the engines to stop.

In the waiting hall, passengers crowded around the windows, staring at the gray-black sky to the northeast, their faces filled with shock and fear.

Someone asked in a low voice, "What exactly happened?"

No one can answer.

On social media, the topic of the volcanic eruption quickly became a trending topic.

"Mount Fuji erupted! I can see smoke from my house!"

"The earthquake kept shaking; the house was swaying non-stop."

"The airport is closed, we can't fly."

"I'm more than 50 kilometers away from Mount Fuji, and the ground is covered in dust."

The accompanying image shows an overwhelming, suffocating cloud of volcanic ash.

During his meal, Luo Fei learned about the situation in Japan through Xiao Wan's voice in his earpiece. His expression remained calm as he asked in a low voice, "Xiao Wan, how long will the volcanic eruption last?"

Xiao Wan replied, "A medium-sized eruption is expected to last for several days to several weeks. The energy pulse only triggers a pressure release in the Earth's crust; it does not forcibly maintain the eruption. Once the underground pressure decreases to a certain level, the eruption will naturally stop."

Luo Fei grunted in response and lowered his head to continue eating.